Overpass Accident : Scrap Autos Dropped Onto Freeway; 2 Die

Two persons, one of them a Santa Ana man, were killed and seven injured when a tractor-trailer rig on the Corona del Mar Freeway tipped over on an overpass above the 55 Freeway, dumping its load of 17 flattened, scrap vehicles onto three cars on the freeway below.

Killed in the Thursday night accident were Kyle Stephan Biser, 24, of Santa Ana and Robert White, 16, of Torrance.

Critically injured were White’s mother, Barbara, 37; Biser’s brother, Chris, 28, of Riverside; Barbara Mills, 35, of Huntington Beach, and Janet Coady, 19, of Riverside.

Seriously injured was Michelle Jamison, 24, of Riverside.

Five in Hospital

Five of the injured persons remained in Riverside General Hospital Friday.

White’s father, William, 42, and brother, Gregory, 14, were treated for minor injuries and held overnight at Corona Community Hospital before being released.

The accident occurred at 9:15 p.m. when the trailer carrying the scrap vehicles separated from its tractor on the northbound Corona del Mar Freeway and flopped onto its right side, spilling the massive load, California Highway Patrol Officer James Bentz said.

“It was a mess,” said Bentz, who was at the scene. “When the load came down, it fell on top of the cars. It was all in one, big pile.”

Traffic was backed up “for miles,” he said, and it took police and tow trucks until after midnight to clear the highway.

Bentz said investigators were still trying to determine if the trailer separated from the tractor because of a mechanical failure or whether the truck hit a guardrail, causing the separation.

The driver of the rig, Raoul Wheeler, 57 of Upland, was not injured. Bentz said Wheeler is an independent scrap dealer.